Letter to Edward Partridge, 5 December 1833

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

The Book of Mormon indicated that, in preparation for Jesus Christ’s second coming, a city should be built on the American continent and called the New Jerusalem. The Book of Mormon further explained that the remnant of the seed of Joseph (understood to be...

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

Settled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Original size diminished when land was taken to create several surrounding counties. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1830 about 5,000; in 1836 about 8,500; and in 1840 about 8,300. Refuge...

21 Dec. 1784–25 June 1855. Pastor, farmer. Born in New Hampshire. Married first Oliva Swanson of Massachusetts. Resided at Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, 1808. Lived in Vermont. Moved to northern Pennsylvania, 1817. Served as minister in Freewill...

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

One of longest rivers in North America, in excess of 3,000 miles. From headwaters in Montana to confluence with Mississippi River near St. Louis, Missouri River drains 580,000 square miles (about one-sixth of continental U.S.). Explored by Lewis and Clark...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

It is unknown whether a complete copy of Hyde’s published letter to the editor of the Boonville Herald still exists. However, Oliver Cowdery included at least a partial copy of the letter in The Evening and the Morning Star. (“The Outrage in Jackson County, Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 118; see also “Civil War in Jackson County!,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 12 Nov. 1833, [3].)

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

JS revelation, dated 20 July 1831, designated Missouri as “land of Zion” for gathering of Saints and place where “City of Zion” was to be built, with Independence area as “center place” of Zion. Latter-day Saint settlements elsewhere, such as in Kirtland,...

21 Dec. 1784–25 June 1855. Pastor, farmer. Born in New Hampshire. Married first Oliva Swanson of Massachusetts. Resided at Portsmouth, Rockingham Co., New Hampshire, 1808. Lived in Vermont. Moved to northern Pennsylvania, 1817. Served as minister in Freewill...

Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Mormon population by summer...

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

. The next day he completed his letter and reported that mobs had begun to force church members to leave their homes in Jackson County—information that Hyde and Gould may not have known. Although Phelps’s original letter no longer exists, according to the letter featured here, Phelps’s missive arrived in

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

The letter from JS featured here discusses information that appears to have been conveyed only through Phelps’s original letter—information that Cowdery, perhaps waiting for confirmation of the Mormon evacuation from Jackson County, did not include in the published version.

sent to the editor of the Missouri Republican, to which JS by this time had access. Perhaps because the information he received was inconsistent, and possibly in an effort to document the violence against his followers, JS wrote this 5 December letter urging church leaders in

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

to “collect every particular concerning the Mob from the begining and send us a correct statement of fact as they transpired.” Until then, he wrote, “it is difficult for us to advise.” Even without clarification, JS told the

Settled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. president Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...

church leaders that if they had not yet been driven out they should fight to stay on their lands as long as they could: “You should maintain the ground as Long as there is a man Left. . . . it was right in the sight of God that you contend for it to the last.”

27 Aug. 1793–27 May 1840. Hatter. Born at Pittsfield, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of William Partridge and Jemima Bidwell. Moved to Painesville, Geauga Co., Ohio. Married Lydia Clisbee, 22 Aug. 1819, at Painesville. Initially a Universal Restorationist...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...

, the editor of The Evening and the Morning Star, which corrected parts of his earlier missive to the editors of the Boonville Herald. Oliver Cowdery published Hyde’s second letter in the same December issue of the Star that published

It is not known precisely when or why Hyde wrote his corrective letter, though he may have done so at the behest of JS or to alleviate JS’s concerns, expressed in the letter featured here, about the inconsistent information he had heard about events in Missouri. By 10 December 1833, JS received correspondence from Missouri that provided more information about the persecution and expulsion of church members in that place. Given that Hyde arrived in Kirtland in late November and that the first Kirtland issue of the Star was prepared for printing no sooner than 18 December,

It is unknown whether a complete copy of Hyde’s published letter to the editor of the Boonville Herald still exists. However, Oliver Cowdery included at least a partial copy of the letter in The Evening and the Morning Star. (“The Outrage in Jackson County, Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 118; see also “Civil War in Jackson County!,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 12 Nov. 1833, [3].)

JS first made this point in a letter dated 18 August 1833: “It is the will of the Lord that . . . not one foot of land perchased should be given to the enimies of God or sold to them.” JS dictated a revelation eleven days after this 5 December letter was written that gave the same directive: “It is my will that my people should claim and hold claim upon that which I have appointed unto them though they should not be permited to dwell thereon.” (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833; Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:99].)

evry exertion should be to maintain the cause you have espoused and to contribute to the necessities of one another as much as possable in this your great calamity and remember not to murmur at the dealings of God with his creature you are not as yet brought into as trying circumstances as were the ancient Prophets & apostles Call to mind a Daniel

and many more too numerous to mention who were stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the sword and wandered about in sheep skins & goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy. they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth yet they all obtained a good report through faith

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...

but it will be impossable for us to render you any assistance in a temporal point of view as our means are already exhausted and are deeply in debt and know no means whereby we shall be able to extricate ourselves;

In the months before JS wrote this letter, church leaders took on a large amount of debt in order to purchase land and acquire a new printing press and type to replace what had been damaged during the violence in Jackson County on 20 July 1833. (See Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A; Minutes, 11 Sept. 1833; F. G. Williams and Company, Account Book, 1; Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 56–60; and Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Ambrose Palmer, New Portage, OH, 30 Oct. 1833, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 8–9.)

Located in northeastern Ohio, south of Lake Erie. Rivers in area include Grand, Chagrin, and Cuyahoga. Settled mostly by New Englanders, beginning 1798. Formed from Trumbull Co., 1 Mar. 1806. Chardon established as county seat, 1808. Population in 1830 about...

JS first made this point in a letter dated 18 August 1833: “It is the will of the Lord that . . . not one foot of land perchased should be given to the enimies of God or sold to them.” JS dictated a revelation eleven days after this 5 December letter was written that gave the same directive: “It is my will that my people should claim and hold claim upon that which I have appointed unto them though they should not be permited to dwell thereon.” (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833; Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:99].)

evry exertion should be to maintain the cause you have espoused and to contribute to the necessities of one another as much as possable in this your great calamity and remember not to murmur at the dealings of God with his creature you are not as yet brought into as trying circumstances as were the ancient Prophets & apostles Call to mind a Daniel

and many more too numerous to mention who were stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the sword and wandered about in sheep skins & goat skins being destitute afflicted tormented of whom the world was not worthy. they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth yet they all obtained a good report through faith

A specific location in Missouri; also a literal or figurative gathering of believers in Jesus Christ, characterized by adherence to ideals of harmony, equality, and purity. In JS’s earliest revelations “the cause of Zion” was used to broadly describe the ...

Generally, a divine mandate that church members were expected to obey; more specifically, a text dictated by JS in the first-person voice of Deity that served to communicate knowledge and instruction to JS and his followers. Occasionally, other inspired texts...

but it will be impossable for us to render you any assistance in a temporal point of view as our means are already exhausted and are deeply in debt and know no means whereby we shall be able to extricate ourselves;

In the months before JS wrote this letter, church leaders took on a large amount of debt in order to purchase land and acquire a new printing press and type to replace what had been damaged during the violence in Jackson County on 20 July 1833. (See Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A; Minutes, 11 Sept. 1833; F. G. Williams and Company, Account Book, 1; Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 56–60; and Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Ambrose Palmer, New Portage, OH, 30 Oct. 1833, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 8–9.)

Located in northeastern Ohio, south of Lake Erie. Rivers in area include Grand, Chagrin, and Cuyahoga. Settled mostly by New Englanders, beginning 1798. Formed from Trumbull Co., 1 Mar. 1806. Chardon established as county seat, 1808. Population in 1830 about...

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JS first made this point in a letter dated 18 August 1833: “It is the will of the Lord that . . . not one foot of land perchased should be given to the enimies of God or sold to them.” JS dictated a revelation eleven days after this 5 December letter was written that gave the same directive: “It is my will that my people should claim and hold claim upon that which I have appointed unto them though they should not be permited to dwell thereon.” (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833; Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:99].)

In the months before JS wrote this letter, church leaders took on a large amount of debt in order to purchase land and acquire a new printing press and type to replace what had been damaged during the violence in Jackson County on 20 July 1833. (See Minutes, 23 Mar. 1833–A; Minutes, 11 Sept. 1833; F. G. Williams and Company, Account Book, 1; Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 56–60; and Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Ambrose Palmer, New Portage, OH, 30 Oct. 1833, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 8–9.)